Disney and Pixar artists spend a lot of time in the countries where the movie is supposed to take place.

With Lilo and Stitch, they went to Hawaii. In Up they visited Paradise Falls in Venezuela (would love to go there). In Coco they went to Mexico. In Frozen to Norway. In Rescuers Down Under I assume they went to Australia. In Ratatouille it was Paris. For Brave it was Scotland. Inside Out happened in San Francisco. The Good Dinosaur was to some degree based on the American prairie if I remember correctly, and some of it Yellowstone. Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros in South-America. Moana in Polynesia.

So, if you come up with a great idea for a story that takes place in a spesific part of the world, and it is greenlighted, you will travel to that place and spend some time there. Which sounds like an excellent way to see the world. If there is a country or location that you really wish to see, just find the right concept.

(In that regard, hHad I worked at Disney or Pixar, I would have tried really hard to think of a story that takes place in the Himalayas or the Andes (barely visited in the Amigos and Saludos movies), New Zealand, Antarctica, Sahara or Ireland. And probably Indonesia.)

There are other examples too going as far back as Snow White when Walt sent some of his artists to Germany. Even for Beauty and the Beast, after the initial production was stalled, the crew was sent to France for inspiration.

I'd love to see films set in South Asia, mainly India. We only have The Jungle Book so far which is mostly animal based anyway and I suppose Aladdin has Indian influences and is super popular in that region as well, but it would be nice to have a film that draws purely from Indian culture. I'd love to see something from Indonesia as well and from what I remember, Pixar was planning something from there.

I'd like to see Disney do something with Russia although Anastasia fits that quota now. However, I'd still like to see something in Medieval Russia, say the 17th century, featuring classical fairy tale and mythological characters like Baba Yaga, Vasilisa, Prince Ivan, the Firebird, Koschei the Deathless, etc.

For other European countries, I'd absolutely love to see a fairy tale set in Holland during the 17th century to take advantage of the Dutch tulip mania that marked that period. Something properly set in Denmark or Ireland would be nice as well. Brave sort of wasted Scotland (not the visuals but the story) so I wouldn't mind a return to that location either. I know Gigantic was supposed to be set in either Spain, Portugal, Holland, or Italy before the former was chosen. Now that the film has been scrapped, I agree with other posters that the setting of Spain should be repurposed for another film. I mentioned Holland earlier but Portugal and Italy would be great locations as well. The latter in particular could be such a magical location that would lend itself well to Disney imo. I know Pinocchio is set there but it's specifically set in the alpine region so it takes a lot of German and Swiss elements that don't make it purely Italian.

The pre-Columbian era should be explored as well since Disney completely wasted the Incan civilization. Maybe Kingdom of the Sun could be repurposed with the Aztecs or Mayans instead. I don't remember much of their mythologies anymore but I'm sure they had some sort of sun god and evil entity of darkness as well, the way the Incans did so the basic storyline featuring the gods wouldn't have to differ too much.

Speaking of mythologies, Disney bastardized Greek mythology so I'd love to see a proper Greek myth being done. Whether it would be Orpheus or Jason and the Golden Fleece, just something that improves on Hercules. Of course, Disney has prime material with the Percy Jackson series but I guess that wouldn't really utilize Greece.

I agree with Jean Grey; the Mediterranean countries, India and Pre-Columbian lands especifically. Disney utterly wasted these places so it wouldn't hurt to go back to them.

Also, I'll say it...Japan. No, no that modern Americanized crap that was wasted in Big Hero, but something set in previous time to the Meiji period. With the myths and the women in beautiful kimonos or yukatas....It would be stereotypical but Japan has such a rich history and mythology that I don't care if it even pandered to weaboos. Kubo did it, and it worked pretty well there.

Just get away from France and Britain tbh.

_________________Awaiting for the Beatles of DVDIzzy: Disneyjedi , disneyphilip, TsWade2, and 2DDisney4Ever

^and New York. I like the Russian fairy tale with the wolf and the firebird, and it would be one of the few Disney films were wolves aren't evil.as for where Id like to go well Ive never traveled anywhere, and I don't count Disney World since I already live in Fl. Ive always wanted to go to the UK and Japan.

I haven't really traveled outside of the US either but England, France, and Japan are at the top of my list of places to visit. Admittedly enough, the first two are in part because of all the Disney films set there.

I completely forgot about Japan so thanks guys for mentioning it. I agree that Japan is ripe with material to be used and like thedisneyspirit said, it should be actual Japan and not a weird San Fran amalgamation. I'm surprised Disney hasn't bothered with Japan yet considering it's one of the countries that loves Disney most, perhaps even more than the U.S. and UK.

I really hope Dragon Empire might be set in Japan rather than China because we've seen Disney films set in China before, not to mention other animated films like Kung Fu Panda (it always makes me laugh when Chinese people say that Kung Fu Panda is more accurate to their culture than Mulan, an actual historical epic).

I don’t really have a wish-list of locales for Disney to set their movies. I do like variety and I like being introduced to different cultures, histories, and mythologies through Disney films. A new animated film set somewhere in Africa came to mind immediately— I’d love to see an African princess, for example. But there are so many great places and cultures to explore— I am so eager to see what D23 could possibly reveal this year!

On a similar note, I’d also like to see more of the racially diverse casts such as the *Frozen* franchise seems to be dipping its toe into. Many of the films are fairy tales set in imaginary lands— why should all the characters be white, anyway?

_________________Avatar and signature are Al Hirschfeld illustrations of Julie Andrews in Star! (1968).

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